Downtown Will Face Invasion - Of Apartments

December 2, 1998|By Jack Snyder of The Sentinel Staff

``When you're alone and life is making you lonely you can always go - downtown.''

Or when you don't want to commute.

Apologies to Petula Clark, the English singer whose song ``Downtown'' was a hit in 1965, but apartment developers have discovered downtown Orlando and they think it's a place a lot of people want to live.

Five major developers have found sites or are scouting locations for six apartment projects in downtown Orlando. And they hope to begin construction next year.

Some of the new units will target affluent renters who can afford to pay more than $2,000 a month.

The city is joining a nationwide trend in downtown residential growth as traffic congestion drives people in from the suburbs.

If all six developments are launched, more than 1,000 apartments would be built.

The pending developments are:

Post Properties Inc. of Atlanta plans to buy The Plaza apartments at 431 E. Central Blvd. and redevelop the site and adjacent property for a 242-unit complex.

Lincoln Property Co.'s residential division is close to purchasing a site near Rosalind Avenue and South Street. Details have not been released.

Echelon Residential Inc., which has already announced one downtown project, now plans two. The first, to be started this spring, will be the 300-unit Echelon at Cheney Place, at 808 N. Orange Ave. and Cheney Place.

Echelon, a subsidiary of Echelon International Corp. of St. Petersburg, also is buying city-owned property at North Orange Avenue and Marks Street for a 200-apartment complex.